Men
of Honor is the true story of Carl Brashear, the first african-american
to become a master diver in the U.S. Navy. Brashear entered the
Navy before the civil rights movement at a time that although the
armed services were integrated, they were still very segregated.
Racism was still very rampant, and the challenges he was able to
overcome make for an absolutely amazing story.

Cuba
Gooding Jr. plays the role of Brashear and turns in an excellent
performance. But we were totally blown away with the performance
of Robert De Niro as Master Chief Billy Sunday. Sunday is the person
who trains Brashear to dive and as such is both a nasty adversary
and strong supporter. De Niro's performance at times in this film
reminds me alot of R. Lee Ermey as Sgt. Hartman, the Drill Instructor
from Full Metal Jacket. But Ermey really was a D.I., for De Niro
to be able to muster up that same level of believable intensity
is truly impressive.

This
is not light viewing, this is very heavy drama. The life of Carl
Brashear is amazing because he met challenge after challenge successfully
no matter what obstacles were put in his way. If there ever was
a human with absolute no quit in him at all, it is this man. Without
spoiling the movie, let's just say this makes for some fairly intense
viewing. And although this is not a chick flick by any means, if
you take a date, dont be surprised if you get some water works.
You've been warned.

There
are a few action sequences as well, but do not expect any gun play,
car chases or explosions. Master Chief Sunday explains that divers
are not fighting men, but rather they are into rescue, salvage,
search, etc. The movie stays true to this and does not compromise
the story just by slipping in a couple of good booms just to punch
up the trailers.

Men
of Honor is extremely well done with two very strong performances
from Gooding and De Niro. However, it is very intense drama, and
it does have a couple of slow spots. On the Movies for Guys scale
we give it a solid 3 stars. If you're in the mood for something
a bit more serious this holiday season, check it out.